3 Wishes
by elstarr05
Summary: After winning the essay contest to a certain redhead's dismay in Charms, James Potter is granted three wishes. L/J
1. Essay Contest

3 Wishes

"And the winning essay is…" the professor gave a dramatic pause. Lily held her breath. She had spent days on the essay, editing every mistake and rewriting it several times. She wanted to do her best and didn't feel satisfied until she did. Being recognized for it would be nice, and although she didn't care much for competition, especially when it came to schoolwork she couldn't help feeling anticipation or hoping she would win. "James Potter!" Lily's breath came out. She watched with a feeling between shock and disappointment as the Marauders cheered. "James, come on to the front of the class so I can award you properly…good, good. Now, this here is wishing powder." He held up a small cloth bag that was tied with yarn. "There is enough for three spoonfuls. All you do is put one spoonful into any drink, mix it in with the drink and then as you drink think of the wish you'd like granted. I must warn you, there are limits. Not every wish is able to be granted. If a certain wish is not coming true, that is why, unless of course, you set a time limit on the wish such as to marry someone, or become minister of magic. Not that I'm saying those can come true." The professor looked rather flustered. He gave the bag to James. "Congratulations, Mr. Potter. Use this wisely. I assure you, you do not want to be careless. Give it some thought."  
"Thank you," James replied, looking down at the bag, amazement written on his face.

"Do you know what you'll wish for, Prongs?" Remus asked curiously as the group walked back to the Common Room. Charms was the last class of the day.  
"Of course he knows! We all know. Everyone in the school knows. What has Prongs wanted since fifth year more than anything?"  
"Oh…you mean Lily Evans?" Peter asked. Sirius smacked the back of his head. "Ow! But I thought that love and magic weren't supposed to be mixed."  
"Peter has a point there, Sirius. Would James really want Lily to love him because of a spell or love him because she truly does? There's a big difference."  
"Would you please stop talking about me like I'm not right here?" James interrupted. "As for your first question Moony, I don't know yet. I need to think about." They stopped next to the painting."Besides, we have enough homework to last the entire night if we don't start soon. _Godric_." The painting swung open. He walked into the common room. The other three exchanged glances before following.

The next morning at breakfast Lily picked at her mashed potatoes. "Have a lot on your mind, Lily?" Martha asked.  
"Yeah."  
"Is it something we would know about? Or someone we would know?"  
"Both."  
"Like someone…ouch!" She cried as Alice, another friend, jabbed her.  
"If Lily wants to talk about it, she would."  
"What's with all the questions?" Lily asked, taking a sip of her orange juice. She noticed James sitting a few seats down doing the same looking at her, a familiar small bag sitting on the table open. The other girls followed her stare.


	2. Growing Up

"See, I told you Alice! He has to be!"  
"Martha, he is not that careless. He knows what he's doing.  
"Then why is he looking at her?"  
"Because he always is!"  
"Girls! Stop, please. What is going on? You've been arguing all afternoon yesterday and up till now."  
Alice answered first, looking sheepish.  
"Martha thinks that James is going to use one of his three wishes to make you love him. I told her that if he truly loves you, he wouldn't force it but I guess Martha believes he's enough of a git to do so. You've been on a lot friendlier terms with him this year, and he has matured so I really doubt he would, Lily. I wouldn't worry about it unless you start falling all over him." Lily felt her cheeks redden. She looked from James back to Alice.  
"I don't think he would either. Just so you know, I was thinking earlier about that big Transfiguration test we have today," Martha's hand clapped over her mouth.  
"Oh no! That's what you were studying for all night. I didn't think we had _that _much homework, but it's you…so I thought. I didn't study at all! I completely forgot. Excuse me." She stood up and started running out of the Great Hall, yelling over her shoulder, "I'll talk to you later!"  
Alice and Lily smiled. This behavior wasn't new. It'd been this way ever since first year and just never stopped. Martha was the out spoken, irresponsible, fun and humorous one in the circle.  
"What were you saying, Lily?" Alice asked, interrupting her thoughts.  
"Well, I was saying that at breakfast I had been thinking about that Transfiguration test and um… I…" Lily cleared her throat. "You know how James…sorry, I meant Potter! Potter has been acting more mature this year. I've always said I'd give him a chance if he ever grew up. He rarely hexes Slytherns, he doesn't play as many pranks, his grades seem to be decent, he's Head Boy… maybe he has. I thought of asking him to Hogsemeade today. What do you think?"  
"Lily, do you have a crush on James Potter?"  
"Yes! It's horrible. I used to hate him! I told him that I'd rather date the giant squid than go out with him. I've turned him down probably over a thousand times! I've told him to jump off a cliff, to never look at me again, to go away. Merlin! It's so awkward."  
"Finally you admit it!"  
Lily glanced at Alice.  
"What do you mean, finally?"  
"I mean, well, it's been kind of obvious. You don't constantly go on about how irritating he is, you've been looking at him during classes and he has changed this year. You both have. I think it's great! Why don't you ask him?" She was smiling.  
"You really do?" Alice nodded. "Right now?" Alice nodded again. Slowly Lily stood up. "Okay. Wish me luck."  
"Good luck!"


	3. Asking Questions

She walked the few feet to where James was sitting. Unfortunately, she hadn't thought to check on who was sitting next to him. Peter, Remus and Sirius occupied the seats around their friend. They all glanced up at her in shock.  
"Good morning, Evans." James said. "What brings you here?"  
"I was wondering…" _Go on Lily. Just say it. This is easy! Only a few more words and you can walk away. No! Lily, I can't believe you're doing this! What are you thinking?  
_James was waiting patiently, his eyes glued to the girl in front of him. He hardly realized it was taking a long time for her to answer until Remus asked if she was okay.  
"I'm sorry." She spoke to James again, looking almost apologetic. "I was wondering if you would like to go to Hogsmeade with me on Friday." All the Marauders faces were clear shock.  
"Are you serious?" James replied, standing up. "Do you have to ask?"  
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be asking. Forget it. I shouldn't have asked." She turned to walk away but before she could a hand landed on her shoulder and spun her back around. James Potters face was only inches away from hers.  
"I'm not going to forget it." He breathed. "Yes."  
"Yes what?"  
"Yes, I'll go."  
"Then it's settled. You can let go of me now." He stepped back.  
Lily sat back down at the table in front of Alice, her hands shaking. She hardly could believe she asked. Plus Friday was only a couple days away. Drawing in a deep breath then letting it out, Lily looked at Alice.  
"So?" remarked Alice, taking a bite of her toast.  
"So what?"  
"How did it go?"  
"He said yes," Lily replied, grabbing a hold of the table to calm herself down. She tried to resist the temptation to look over at the Marauders.  
Alice smiled.


	4. Notes and Glances

James glanced at the clock impatiently.  
Dipping his quill into more ink, he sighed in frustration. There was still twenty minutes left until Charms was over. He couldn't concentrate on the essay in front of him. The days had dragged on until finally it was Friday. James Potter was going to go on a date with Lily Evans. He wanted to scream, jump up and down, and run around the classroom yelling. He couldn't and hadn't. His mind wandered back to the game yesterday. After Gryffindor won Lily had congratulated him. It was real quick while passing by while heading back to Hogwarts but it was a lot better than it used to be. At least it was something.  
He turned to look at her, one row over and three seats behind. She looked completely focused as she normally did scribbling quickly. Moony liked telling him that if he spent half the time concentrating on his schoolwork as he did with Lily he would probably be as smart as she was, if not more. It wasn't that he was a bad student; he just had trouble paying attention when Lily was around. Add to that the Marauders pranks, keeping a watch on Moony during the full moon and trying to stop hexing Slytherins (especially Severus Snape) _and _being team captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team school is already a handful. Wasn't he supposed to be working on something, he wondered, glancing over to see Lily still furiously scribbling. Right, the essay! James looked up at the clock. Five minutes had gone by. He picked up his quill.  
Two minutes later James was distracted once more when Lily brushed some hair that had fallen in front of her face back behind her ear. Sirius looked up to see James staring at Lily, his eyes unfocused. He shook his head and took out a new piece of parchment, pushing his essay work aside.  
'Prongs- If you don't realize it, there is a little more than ten minutes left off class. As a fellow Marauder, I propose that you stop staring before you scare off your future date and finish your essay so you don't end up in detention rather than Hogsmeade.  
-Padfoot'

Folding the parchment, he tossed it over to James who was sitting in front of him. James scanned the note than picked up his quill. Although Sirius was normally reckless, he was also smart and James knew Sirius was right.  
'Padfoot,  
I appreciate your concern, and I also agree with you. I do not wish to scare off Miss Evans or miss this once chance. However, you may not realize I have finished most of the essay- I only have a quarter of it left. Also, you are starting to sound like Moony, who fortunately isn't here to yell at me for not finishing my work. Are you feeling okay? '  
James dropped the note behind him, hoping it landed on the desk and turned to his book. He had five minutes left and now wasn't so impatient. In fact, he wished that class could last longer so he could complete the essay on time. His head bent down and soon he matched Lily's furious scribbling on the parchment until the hand on the clock turned to slowly hit the twelve.  
After class was over Lily sat in the common room, starting her homework so she wouldn't have to deal with it later. Peter walked over to the couch and sat down beside her.  
"Oh, hi Peter," she said, turning to see him there. "How are you?"  
"I'm fine. I was just wondering if you still wanted to go to Hogsmeade with James?" Lily felt butterflies in her stomach at his name. She scolded herself in her mind. If she was going to act like this the whole time she shouldn't even go. She didn't want to start turning into one of those lovesick girls who she often saw falling all over Potter. It was only a date. That was all. They didn't even have to be boyfriend and girlfriend, they could just be friends.  
"Yes, don't worry. I'm the one who asked him out in the first place. Are you sure he still wants to go?"  
"Oh, yes! He definitely does. You mean, you didn't notice him staring at you during the entire class?" Suddenly, a hand was clasped over Peter's mouth.  
"Miss Evans, are you ready to go?" James asked as Peter struggled against him. "If you want to go to Honeydukes, I've heard that they have a new kind of chocolate out for Valentine's Day. A little early, but we'll want to buy some before they sell out. At least I will," He added. Lily smiled. "Well then, Mr. Potter, what are we waiting for?"


	5. Candy and a Walk

"Wow! Look at all this candy," Peter grabbed a handful of sugared quills. "I should buy these! They're on sale too!" Peter couldn't decide what to buy. He saw something, looked it over for a while until he was distracted again. Lily and James had been in and out quickly about ten minutes ago, leaving after saying something about taking a walk. The bell above the door rang as the door to the shop opened, sending in another crowd of students and a bitter gust of air. Sirius glanced at Remus, shaking his head. They had been standing inside Honeydukes for a little over half an hour now.

"Peter," Remus cleared his throat. "Sirius and I are leaving now. If you need us we'll be at the Three Broomsticks. Have fun."

"Wait!" Peter said impatiently. "What do you think? Should I buy these," he held up the sugared quills, "or these?" He gestured to a shelf of chocolate frogs next to him.

"Whatever will last longer," suggested Remus. "That's normally the best bet."

"Where's the snow?" Were the first words out of Sirius' mouth when they entered back into the streets of Hogsmeade.

"I don't know. We were in there long enough; it must have come and gone."

"Just like a certain couple we know." Sirius pointed a little farther off to two people coming out of the Three Broomsticks, right where Sirius and Remus were heading.

"Hey James!" He yelled, starting to run. Remus hurried after him. "Lily," Sirius said politely once he reached the location. "How is the date going?"

James beamed. "I'll take that as fantastic, wonderfully, exceedingly brilliant."

James chuckled. "We were just going to take a walk."

"I thought you were taking a walk after leaving us in Honeydukes."

"Lily thought it was too cold and we should wait."

"Oh, so you're letting Lily have all the say." Sirius shook his head. "James, my friend, you are in way over your head. Seriously Lily, if you haven't figured it out by now, James is completely…" James had put his hand over Sirius' mouth. Sirius kept talking in a muffled voice. "Lily, I'm….mmmm….tell….you…he…"

"Why don't we take our walk now?" Lily suggested, smiling.

James smiled back. "That would be perfect."

Ten minutes later the two were walking just outside of the Hogsmeade village along a small trail. Lily brushed her fingers against some trees absentmindedly, looking thoughtful. "Have something on your mind?" James questioned, stumbling a bit in the deep snow as he stopped to wait for her.

"Can I ask you a question?" She replied.

"Yeah."

"What changed?"

"What do you mean?" Lily bit her lip, wondering how she should say this. What changed? What had changed? Why did she like James Potter, of all people?

"Before this year, you were constantly asking me out, hexing Snape, and playing pranks. Now this year you've hardly hexed a single person, all your pranks have been harmless and even some funny, plus you haven't asked me out once. What happened?"

Looking at the ground James ran his fingers through his hair, stopping halfway when he remembered Lily had always hated that. He knew the answer. He was just a surprised Lily had asked. Of course he should have realized Lily had noticed. Sometimes he thought she knew him better than he knew himself, but that was just the way Lily was. She seemed to know everything.

"You," he finally said.

"What about me?"

"I changed for you. You told me before that I was conceited. You were right. I was conceited. I took a lot for granted, even though I was better off than a lot of people who were more considerate than I was. So I decided that I needed to change, and just maybe if I did change I might even be good enough for you. I guess I finally grew up."

Lily looked at him.

"Potter, why do you like me?" Her voice sounded frustrated, like she was trying to put together something that no matter how hard she tried didn't seem to fit.

James appeared shocked.

"You've never asked yourself that, have you?" She continued, starting to walk again. "You probably don't even have an answer. I was just some girl that you couldn't have and because of that you wanted me even more. That's just the way it is. I'm the prize in this game you made up and now that you've won you're going to go off on some other chase. It isn't fun if you aren't chasing something. You even have to chase that snitch you keep hidden in your robes for something to do. Can't you see? You never wanted me; you just wanted to win your own game. And you did, James Potter, you did! You've won! I've fallen for you!" Lily put her gloved hands over her face as tears slowly started falling from her bright green eyes. She still had her back turned to James.

"Lily?" He said softly, tentatively making his way over to her. He stood in front of her and brought her hands away from her face, taking both of them in his own. "I'm sorry."

"I was right."

"No. I'm sorry you think that." James brushed away the tears on her face. "I never intended on that. Listen to me, I love you. I don't care if it's too early to say that, but it's the truth. I've loved you for years. You're strong, brave, kind and you don't care what people think of you. You do what you can to help others and you're intelligent. You bring out the best in others and in me. You always look at every perspective before making a decision. There are hundreds of things I could say about you and not one is negative. Someday I will. Don't you know that, Lily? How couldn't you have? You're the only one I want. I would have given up ages ago if I didn't care." Lily brushed her eyes and took away James hand, putting it once again in hers. She laughed softly.

"You know, this is exactly like magic. Everything about this moment. It feels so right. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Neither would I."


	6. Wishes

Lily and James walked into the Great Hall holding hands the next morning. Alice, Martha and the marauders stopped eating and stared. Lily laughed, sitting down next to Martha. James slid in between her and Sirius.  
"Wow," Sirius said. "I guess James finally worked his magic on you, Lily." He shook his head in amazement.  
"Speaking of magic you never told us what you used your three wishes on, Prongs," Remus remarked, taking a bite of his waffle.  
"That's right! Potter, what did you use it on?" Lily looked at him expectantly.  
James cleared his throat. "Well, the first one was to win the Quidditch match that went on last week."  
Sirius let out a bark. "You used it on a _Quidditch_ game!" He exclaimed.  
James ignored him. "The second I used yesterday in Hogsmeade…when Lily said she wished it were warmer and we went into The Three Broomsticks…I made a wish for it to be warmer…" The group stared at him in astonishment.  
"What about the third wish?" Martha breathed.  
He shrugged, "I'm saving it."  
"For what?"  
"For whenever I feel I need it. I don't have to have magic to be happy. I have everything I need right now, and I'm happy with my life. That's what really counts." He filled up his goblet with pumpkin juice. Lily smiled. "Who would have thought?"  
"What?" James questioned.  
"You're right, Potter. That's what really counts."

A/N: THE END! I hope you all liked it. I'm sorry I took a while to post this; I've been really busy with school lately. I know it was a short story, but that's all I wanted to do. See that review button below the story? Click on it!


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